I've been baking a lot of bread lately, and what I've been doing is making a batch for 2 loaves, baking one, and putting the other half in the fridge after the first rise. Depending on when I bake the second loaf, I either bake it as is (it rises enough in the fridge to bake) or if it's been there a few days, I punch it down, re-shape, let it rise, and bake it. That's been working out fine.
But now I'm thinking it would be ideal if I could lop off enough dough to make 2-4 rolls, and freeze them for later use. That way, if I just wanted a few rolls, I could take them out of the freezer and make them, without mixing up a whole batch of dough. Or I could make a whole variety of buns (I tend to make different types of bread each time) from whatever I have frozen.
I know it's possible to freeze dough, since they sell frozen bread dough, but do they use "normal" yeast, or is mine going to freeze to death? How would I go about this for the best result? Freeze after I punch it down and form it? Let it rise a bit first? Freeze it right after I make it?
And what about baking? Thaw, don't thaw?
Any suggestions?